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The horse that gained fame as the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years has one his eighth race in a row. During his first time out since winning the Triple Crown, American Pharoah easily glided past competitors Keen Ice and Upstart to win the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth in New Jersey.

American Pharoah won by three-lengths in one minute and 47.8 seconds, but analysts say it could’ve been more had jockey Victor Espinoza not reigned the eager Pharoah in.

After American Pharoah’s win today, owner Ahmed Zayat addressed the cheering fans of the horse saying, “So grateful for all of you; it’s your horse.”

Trainer Bob Baffert said they haven’t decided if American Pharoah will race again and that they will evaluate the horse after today’s win.

If they do decide to race the champion, it will be lucrative.

The New York Racing Association announced Saturday that it would raise the purse for its Travers Stakes to $1.6 million if American Pharoah joined the race on August 29.

American Pharoah has earned more than $5.5 million so far in his career including today’s purse of $1.05 million.

Fall camp begins for Kentucky football later this week and there is one word on UK Offensive Coordinator Shannon Dawson’s mind: Speed.

“I can get that fast stuff taught in the fall very easily,” Dawson said. “We’re going to go fast. There’s no doubt about it.”

Dawson told the Lexington Herald-Leader he will be ratcheting up the tempo on the offensive end, by implementing the quick attack he had in place at his previous schools. Dawson’s Mountaineer offense was one of the quickest in the nation and he hopes to bring that speed to Commonwealth Stadium.

Dawson’s offenses have averaged 76.7 plays per game, which is nearly two more plays per game than Neal Brown’s ideal pace of 75 plays per game. Dawson says he is shooting for 85 plays per game.

Which might sound like a stretch, after all, Kentucky’s average last season was 70.8 plays per game, but Dawson has come close before. The offensive coordinator was able to get West Virginia up to 84.4 plays per game last season.

Couple that information with reports of QB’s Patrick Towles and Drew Barker fairly smooth transition from Brown to Dawson, and the Kentucky offense may have a few more tricks up their sleeves this season.

Kentucky’s defensive line will be getting a needed upgrade this week. According to 247Sports, defensive end Alvonte Bell and defensive tackle Courtney Miggins from Pearl River Community college plan to enroll at UK in the coming days.

Bell originally signed with the Cats out of high school, but a broken leg forced him to the junior college ranks. He reportedly turned down offers from Florida State, Washington, and Arizona to join Kentucky this year. Miggins held offers Mississippi State and NC State.

The two add some necessary depth to Kentucky’s front line. Good to have ya, fellas.

As next year’s roster finally starts to solidify, it’s time to start looking at the class of 2016. While Kentucky currently has no commitments (save Tai Wynyard, who might suit up this year) Calipari certainly feels good about the prospects. Earlier this week, he said that next year’s class could be his “best ever.”

A scary thought, indeed.

Along with the likes Rawle Alkins, Miles Bridges, Harry Giles, and Kobi Simmons – one name to watch is De’Aaron Fox. Rumor has it that Kentucky has been gaining a lot of momentum in his recruitment lately, and might be the current leader.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at De’Aaron and his recuitment.

Playing Style

De’Aaron’s had a killer summer and is considered by many to be the best pure point guard in his class. While his frame’s a little thin at the moment, he’s an excellent finisher in traffic. He takes a lot of pride in his defensive abilities, and oh yeah, he’s also lightning quick. See for yourself.

Recruitment

Back in April, Fox had glowing things to say about UK. He referred to Kentucky as every kid’s “dream school” and is familiar with all of the guards that have played for Calipari – his favorite being Brandon Knight. He also isn’t scared of the limited minutes that could come with UK’s highly-talented rosters:

“Guys like that, averaging like 8 points, and still going to be an NBA Draft pick — that’s how you want it,” Fox said. “You don’t want to have to go into college trying to score 30 points to try to win a game.“

While other schools have been considered his leader thus far, De’Aaron picked up an offer from UK last weekend and looks to be seriously considering the Cats.

5-star shooting guard Rawle Alkins listed his top 10 schools yesterday on Twitter, and Kentucky was among them. The Class of 2016 recruit also named North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, St. Johns, Louisville, NC State, UNLV, Maryland, and Indiana as potential destinations.

Yeah. That’s a lot of options. But Kentucky looks to be the frontrunners in this crowded field; 247Sports currently has Alkins as a 67% percent UK lean. Rawle is scheduled to attend Big Blue Madness on October 16th.

Bud Dupree left Kentucky this year as the most exciting NFL prospect since Randall Cobb. Judging by the reports coming in from the Steeler’s training camp, he has a good chance to make a similar impact as a pro.

A note that didn’t make it in the Day 5 report but should have is the impact rookie Bud Dupree is making. His play on the field is one thing, but he’s adding well to the volume of practices each time he lowers his shoulder.

There’s a distinct sound when Dupree smashes into one of the tight ends he’s constantly covering so far. He’s not looking to take their heads off, but he is letting them know he’s there.

The Steelers drafted Dupree with the 22nd overall pick this summer. While he didn’t experience a lot of wins at UK, it’s great to see a guy who contributed so much to the program do well at the next level.

Good morning friends. As some of us continue to shake off the cobwebs from last night (and the rest carry on like responsible human beings) let’s kick this Sunday morning off with some links.

– Kentucky has some stiff competition for 2016 guard Malik Monk. The Arkansas native, who’s called a young Vince Carter by some, is also being wooed heavily by the Razorbacks. Personally, I would advise Malik to watch the last few NBA Drafts before making a decision.

– Former Cat Karl Anthony Towns played pick up with this year’s team this weekend, and he liked what he saw. The #1 overall pick had nice things to say about next year’s potential #1 pick, Skal – but threw in some barbs for good measure. Is it really too late for Karl to come back?

– The folks at the Shreveport Times ranked SEC coaches by job security. Stoops comes in at #10, ahead of the heavyweights Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, and Les Miles. Does Stoops need to make a bowl game this year? Probably not, but it would certainly help his prospects.

– Need some more coverage from Fancy Farm? Here’s a recap of the event with a nod to emcee Matt Jones. It’s never too early for campaign season, right?

It was a good night for Ronda Rousey last night when she knocked out her Brazilian opponent Bethe Correia in only 34 seconds.

That’s right, it takes longer to microwave my morning Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich than it did for Rousey to win her sixth UFC title.

The women’s bantamweight title bout was the main attraction during Saturday’s event in Rio de Janeiro and was Rousey’s first fight outside of the United States. No one should be surprised by the quick win though, according to Sports Center, Rousey’s last three fights have lasted only 64 seconds.

After she handed Correia her first loss, Rousey dedicated the win to the late Hall of Fame wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper- the man who gave Rousey her nickname.

The lesson here: Don’t pick a fight with Ronda Rousey, you won’t have time to run.

Jamal Murray is on campus this weekend and it looks like he making some friends with the other Wildcats. Good choice for Ulis on the USA shirt. Murray has a chance to play for Canada in the FIBA Americas Championship later this month. Coach Cal said earlier he isn’t opposed to Murray for FIBA and hopes the five-star guard can play for his home country without interfering with his eligibility at UK.

Check back with KSR for more updates on Murray and his chances of playing with FIBA.

(Mally Mal #BBN #BeSpecial)

Will Issac Humphries make it official?

We told you yesterday the Australian native is expected to enroll at Kentucky in time to play for Coach Cal and his Cats this season. Humphries is currently on campus for a visit but still no official word yet if the 7-foot forward will don a blue and white jersey this year. Stay tuned to KSR for more info regarding Humphries’ official announcement.

Don’t miss American Pharoah’s return to racing

(Photo via Rob Carr/Getty Images)

The recent Triple Crown winner is set to race today at the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. It’s the first time American Pharoah has competed since winning horse racing’s most elusive prize. Hundreds have gathered at Monmouth Park each morning to watch Pharoah practice for Haskell this past week, and over 60,000 people are expected to attend the race just to get a glimpse of the horse with the misspelled name and short tail. The Triple Crown is a 1-5 favorite in today’s race.

NBC will begin coverage of the Haskell at 5 p.m. ET or you watch a live stream at NBCSports.com or the through the NBC Sports Live Extra app.

Eskridge, a five-star receiver from Florida committed to the Wildcats just two days ago and getting him on campus for a game is another step in the right direction. Obviously, there’s a long way to go until he’s officially a Wildcat, but the more visits like this the better.

No pressure now, but ending the losing streak to Florida this year would be very beneficial.

One thing people point to when referencing the success of last year’s team is how they bonded in the Cats’ Summer trip. This year the entire team wasn’t even together until last night when Jamal Murray made his first appearance at Kentucky as a Wildcat.

No worries, though. It seems like Murray is fitting in just fine if you look at Tyler Ulis’ instagram account.

Mally Mal #BBN #BeSpecial

Looks like Ulis is letting him know where he stands on his favorite country. Go Cats!

Kentucky’s own Nazr Mohammed played alongside some of the biggest names, both past and present from the NBA in the inaugural NBA Africa Game. Playing on the Team Africa Team, Mohammed played 16 minutes going 1-for-8 from the field scoring two points and two rebounds.

Joining him on the Team Africa team were legends Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon along with current NBA stars Serge Ibaka, Boris Diaw, Bismack Biyombo, Al-Farouq Aminu, Nicolas Batum, Luol Deng, Festus Ezeli, Gorgui Dieng and Luc Mbah a Moute.

Look at our fearless leader at work. Scott Utterback took the picture of Matt and posted it on Twitter, who said what we all expected. Matt took no prisoners during his opening.

Joe Sonka recorded some of the best zingers from Matt during the night. Which obviously included the obligatory Rick Pitino in 15 seconds joke. He also made sure to include Indiana in a joke, saying “Don’t act like a bunch of Hoosier hooligans,” as the crowd was chanting. It wasn’t all cheers for Matt though, who got booed – and rightfully so – (sorry Matt) when Mark Wilson mentioned Duke Law School.

Here’s the KSR video/interview that was used during the preview show.

Ryan was well, being Ryan. Also, this might be the greatest picture in Fancy Farm history. Please wear this for the next show, Ryan.

They touched on plenty of other subjects including the UNC vs UK Alumni Charity Game, with Towns saying he wants to play, but has to see how his rookie season goes.

Towns, was Towns. He talked about how important Kentucky was to him even if it was just one year. Said it was sad because life moves by so fast, but Calipari told him to live in the present. Are we sure he can’t come back for another year?

The past few days some former Kentucky Wildcats have gone back to their college roots and integrated their new pro-status into the long running ProCamps. The Kentucky Basketball Twitter account (@KentuckyMBB) tweeted out several pictures today of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Harrison in action at the Lexington camp. Willie Cauley-Stein has also been volunteering at a ProCamps program in Cincinnati, not far from his old Kentucky home.